ADOPTION- Privileges and Rights

In the previous part, we defined what adoption means. We also established that we have been born into a family.  Today, we are going to look at the implication of being a part of this family. That is, what manner of man have you become or are you to become having been adopted into the family of God?

While defining what adoption meant, we made mention of the fact that the adopted child is given the rights, privileges and duties of a child and heir of the adoptive family. So in the church I attend, we usually make certain confessions based on the principles of God’s word. There is one part of the confession that catches my attention. It says: 

“I fulfill my call and vocation in this company of believers, moving from privilege to purpose and from purpose to performance, manifesting the fullness of God in all I do”

Pondering on this confession, I can see how true this is in our walk with God. When we became adopted into the family of God, we enjoy certain rights and privileges belonging to God’s children. You can look at this as the privilege aspect of being a child of God. What are these privileges? I will list some of them.

1. Unhindered access to the Father: We have unhindered access to the Father. Ephesians 2:18 says that through Jesus, we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.  Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence (Ephesians 3:12). Just the way Jesus was bold to call God father, we can call him Father as well.

2. The word of God: God has given us his word so that we can grow in the knowledge of him. The word of God is a love letter from the Father to us to know more about him and who we are in him. The written word is meant to point us to the living word which is Christ (John 1:1, 14). For it is in Him we move and have our being. It is in Him we are. The more we know about Jesus, the more we know about the Father and the more we know about ourselves (John 5:39). 3. 

3. The Spirit of God: The moment we confessed Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, the Holy Spirit came to dwell inside of us. The Holy Spirit has become the mark and seal of our sonship. His presence in us is evidence of the new birth. We have access to fellowship with him. He helps us in studying the Word. The letters kills but the spirit gives life. The Holy Spirit unveils these mysteries to us. He reveals Christ. When we behold the word with unveiled face, we conform to the same image.

The Holy Spirit also helps us pray. Romans 8:26 says we do not know how to pray as we ought to but the spirit makes intercession for us with groaning that cannot be uttered. Praying in tongues is not for some selected few or for some special people. Praying in tongues is a gift of the spirit available to every believer. When we pray in tongues or in the Holy ghost, we speak mysteries, we pray better, we pray according to the will of God.

The Holy Spirit is our friend, comforter, teacher, counselor, and helper. He is our every good thing.

4. The things given to us by God: 1 Corinthians 2:12 says “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” These things include the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24), gifts of the spirit (1 Corinthians 12), leadings and directions of God (Proverbs 3:5-6), prosperity, health and wholeness etc.  

The Holy Spirit, who now dwells inside of us, has become our friend and teacher. He is the spirit of our Father, living in us. He is to teach us all things and to tell us things to come

5. The family of God: We have been born into a family. We have brothers and sisters in Christ. The family of God is the church of God, also called the body of Christ. By being born again, we have become a member of the body. Ephesians 2:19 says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” 

As children of God, we are expected to grow in the knowledge of Jesus and how much he has loved us. We are to know who we are in Him. When we do this, we get to know more about ourselves and the family we have been born into. We get to enjoy the rights and privileges that we now have in him